Thermostatic brake



April 10, 1928. l,665,201

F. N. CONNET ATHERMOSTATIC BRAKE Filgd Jan. 4. 1927 tg lav/Ewen 5 7 2;OM4

. ATTORNEY mobile and the airplane.

Patented Apr. n, 192s,

UNITED era FREDERICK in CONNE'I, or ,PROVIDENCE, VRHODEISLAND,assieuon'ro Bernese IRON FOUNDRY, or PROVIDENCE, m roon rsLAND, aCORPORATION or RHODE ISLAND.

'This invention relates to adevice for 111-, (heating the overheating ofa motor or other ob ect, and more particularly to a, device having arotative signalling member and broadly to thermostatic brakes.

This invention aims to provide an indicating device having a rotarymember which under ordinary circumstances will be in mowith internalcombustion engines, especially.

in motor driven vehicles, such as the auto- For the sake of illustrationIshall describe my invention herein in connection With/ 1T1 automobile25' In carrying out my invention,"I have provided a device having a capadapted .to be secured over the ordinary opening 'in the top ofanautomobile radiator. This cap supports a frame or bracket extendingupwardly and a second part or member which extends downwardly into theinterior of the radiator. Between the upper and lower members thusprovided a shaft is'journaled so that it may rotate freelyandfto' thisshaft is se-' 7 'cureda rotative member 'adaptedto be rotated by theimpact of air against it. When used in connection with an automobile,it. will be readily seen that this rotative member will ordinarily bein' motion so long as the car is moving sincethe resistance of the airto the moving velnclewill cause it to ro-- tater Secured to the memberextending into thein'terioriof the radiator are two metal strips,eachcomposed of metals having different coeflicients of expansion so thateach serves asa thermostat; These metal strips extendin a directionparallel to the rotative shaft-and are in a positiontomake tangeir, tialcontact with a brake. drum fastened to 'enerating or transmitting heat,it is" which is provided at its upper end with-a rnnmvrosrnrio BR KE;

Application filed January 4, 1927. Serial No. 159,007. i

tative member and thereby giving a visualhot. As in Boyce Patent#1,090,776,]the thermo-responsive element is preferably located in theair space above the water level ini'the radiator, so that it will not benormally acted upon unless steam issu d'denly ever, is adapted toa-broader field of uses and may beused 1n any case where it is designalthat the motor has become excessively formed inthe radiator. 'Myinvention, howsired to control by means of a thermostatic brake orclutch therotation of a shaft. It is'obviousthat by merely putting themetal with a; lesser degree of expansion of the'outside rather thanthe-inside, the thermostat may be constructedto release at desiredpredetermined temperatures. It is also obvious that thermostats may beconstructed to function at any predetermined temperature by merelyvarying the metal constituents or al-.

loys employed. v I

- These and suclrother objects of my inven-t tion as may hereinafterappear 'will be best bodiment thereof, such as is shown in the ac-'companying drawing. v 7;

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1, isa top plan view of the-device,showing the rotativein-emberandf I o.

Fig. 2 is a 'seotional'view showing one manner in which the rotativemember-may bejmounted on anfautOmObile radiator.

In the drawings, wherein like characters of reference indicate likeparts throughout, the numeral 1 serves to indicate the 'top of a motorvradiator having the usual filling opening 2. Myv device may .be securedto the radiator in any suitable manner as by means ofthe cap-3 whichmakes threaded connection withthe lip 4 surrounding the opening 2.-.Secured to the cap and extending above the radiatoris. a frame ofbracket 5 for supporting the rotativemember. Al

so secured to the cap member 3,: a'ndextendbut which preferablycomprises thebracket member o and the base 7,.which maybe secured to thebracket 6. in any convenient manner'as'by the'screws' 8. Secured to-theupper side of the base member 7 is a pro tuberance 9 which may be asecured to or formed integrally with thelbase' member and is a bracketor-frame member" which may, if desired, be integrally formed understoodfrom a description of one em-- bearingsocket for the shaft 11. The

' other end of said shaft is journalled in a similar bearing socket 13,preferably in the V l y 'abovethe center of the IEl P I end 'ofa screw12 adjustably threaded hrough-a. ocketof in theupp n of th frame 5 and,positioned preferably direct- V 2. The shaft 11, which-is tapered a-tbqth arms 15., at, the extremity of each of which ends so as to makepoint bearing connections is thus freely rotatable. Secured to theshaft-11 are lugs 14 carrying the radial is ajhemisphericalicup 16.These cups are all similarly mounted: withtheir diameters in verticalplanes andxtheir cup portions projecting anti-clockwisecircumferentially, so that any appreciable impact of air will cause themto revolve, thereby turning the shaft 11. 'Any other device adapted tobe revolvedby the impact of the airniay be used. For example, while Iprefer to use with the shaft 11 are two thermostatstripshemisphericalcups, blades or other suitable members may be substitutedtherefor and in the claims I employ the 'word blade to signify anysuitablexmeans forthis purpose.

Surrounding the shaft 11, and preferably positioned below the exteriorof the radiator cap member 3: is a brake drum 17. If desired, however,the drum maybe dispensed with. Secured at oneend to theprotuberance 9andJeXtending in a direction parallel 18 andl9, the opposite ends ofthese strips extending tangentially across the brake ingunequalexpansion thereof. When the engine becomes excessively overheated orreaches a temperature greater than a pre;

, determined temperature,the vise-like action of these thermostat stripswill cause them to actasa'brake bandand'totighten on the shaftllhthuspreventing its further rotation. The failure ofjthe rotative member torotate y will thus be a signal notifying'thedriver,

operator or other person of some trouble withinithe engine which iscausingit to be 7 come too' greatly overheated. It is obvious, however,that inplaoe of thetwo thermostatic" strips v any suitablethermo-responsive 7 means, which may also fun ction as a brake may beemployed; As stated in Boyce Patent 1,090,776, 'Ifpreferably locate theen- I tire -tliermo-responsi ve means, including: the portion, whichfunctionswagainst' the rotatable shaft; within'the radiator, but normallyx abovelthe .waterflleveli' 7 1 The operationfof my. invention isobvious from therabove description, When the: ve-' rotatethe shaft. The'shaft will continue to rotate until, an .excessine amount of overheatingoccurs within theradiator, When steam is formed in the air space 21abovethe. water leyelthe,temperature will suddenly rise to cause themetalystrips 18 and 19 to contract against. thebralredrnm 17 tostoprotation of the shaft 11 and the then motionless i idicating cups 16will indicate to the driver that the engine'is overheatedf Tho-ughI'hjave' shown-my invention adapted to the coolingsystem of anautomobile, it is obvious that it may be employed in any otherdevice forsignalling purposes, or otherwise, which-includes a shaft iiorn al- 1yrotated the impingementgof-air thereon or otherwiseandtliermo-responsive hicle containing my invention is set in mo tion,it is obvious thatthe impingement of air againstthe blades 16 will causethem to 1 means, preferably a theriiioresponsive brake J to control therotation of' the shaft. -As

stated, lay-varying the position of thenietals of differentco-efficients of'contraction or expansion, the thermo-responsive meansmay be made to function broadly as a" clutch, either if desired-torelease when a predetere mined temperature is*attained to permitrevolution, ofithe shaft,-or to function as a brake when a predeterminedtemperature is attained to stop rotationiof the shaft.

I employ jtheword brake'in' a broad sense to include any memberextending from or towardsfa rotative member adapted of itselfto contractagainst said member, or

any extensions thereof or against an adjathat itmay rotate or to bindsaid member to another member as 15 usual n clutches;

cent, membercithertostop the rotation of I vsaid member or to releasesad member so I employ the word: bind to cover actual-j contractionbetxveen' the brake and any memher or extensions hereof against: whichit may contract 'tofunction. 7

It is understoodithat my invention is not limited to thespecificstructure shown, and

scope ofthe appended claims. I,

from Without departing. from the spirit and What I claimfas newanddesire to securd by Letters Patent is:

that vai'iousdeviations may be madethere- 1. In a vehicle having asystcnfor indi- V eating abnormal conditions in its internal combustion engineprovided Wltll'tt liquid circulation coolingusystem forthe cylinders ofthe engine, said cooling system including a. radiatorliavingan air spaceat tlie'top thereof; a. shaft rotatably mountedonsaid:

radiator with a portion thereof exterior of 7 said; radiator." and aportion thereof interior,

of said radiator, means attached toithe porttion of v said shaft;exterior of said radiatori to:cause-rotation thereof on: impingement of:airQ thereon: on normal i travel of; said? vehicle, akbrakegdrum'attachedw-totthe portion combustion engine provided with a liquidcirculation cooling system for the'cylindei's I of the engine, saidcooling system including a radiator, a shaft rotatably mounted on saidradiator with a portion thereof exterior of said radiator and a portionthereof interior of said radiator, means attached to the portion of saidshaft exterior of said radiator to cause rotation thereof on impingementof air thereon onnormal travel of said vehicle and a thermo-responsiveelement mounted Within said radiator "so as to be exposed to thetemperaturetherein adapted to bind said shaft to functionxas ,a brakeband to stop the rotation of said shaft on excessive overheating of saidradiator.

3. In a vehicle having a system for indieating abnormal conditions inits internal combustion engine provided 'With a liquid circulationcooling system for the cylinders of the engine, said cooling systemincluding a rad ator having an air space at the top thereof and anopening n the upper end thereof, a cap for said radiator opening havinga hole therein, a bracket attached to said. cap exterior of saidradiator having a an adjustable bearing point therein directly abovesaid hole,"a detachable bracket attached to said cap below the topthereof hava ing a bearing point therein directly below said hole, arotatable shaft mounted on said bearing points and extending throughsaid hole having indicating bladesmounted thereon above said cap'adaptedto cause rotation drum mounted on said shaft Within said radiator, andthermo-responsive means mounted Within said air space at the top of;

said radiator comprising stripsof metaliof 1 different selectedco-eflicients of expansion adapted to contract against said brake drumon excessive overheatingof said radiator to stop the rotation of saidshaft.

eating abnormal conditions in its internal combustion engine provided'With ,aliquid' circulation cooling system for the cylinders, 6O

of the engine, said cooling system including a radiator and an openinginthe upper end thereof, a cap for said radiator opening hav-' ing ahole therein, a bracket attached to said cap exte-riorof said radiatorhaving an ad} 1 j ustable beai'ingpoint therein directly above saidhole, a detachable bracket attached to said cap: below the top thereofhaving a a 55 a 4. In a'vehicle having a system for indi a.

bearing point therein'directly belovvisaid hole, a rotatable shaftmounted'on said bear ing points and. extending through said hole havingindicating bladesmounted thereon above said cap adapted to causerotation of said shaft on impingement ofair thereon on normal movementof said vehicle and thermo-responsi've means mounted Within saidradiator comprising strips of metal of c different selectedco-efficients ofexpansion I adapted to bind against said shaft on extherotation thereof.

.cessive overheating of said" radiator to stop 5. .1A signallingdevicecompr sing a shaft, means to rotate said shaft and thermo responsivemeans adapted to, bind: the rotative' member to control rotation thereofon application thereto of'a predetermined amount i of heat.

6. In combination, .a-rotatable shaft and a thermostatic brakepadapted'tobind said shaft to control the rotation thereof como,

prising metal strips of different co-efiicients of expansion joinedtogether.

FREDERICK N. co NEr- V In testimony whereof I alfix my signature. ofsaid shafton impingement of-airthereon on normal movement of saidvehicle, a brake

